Method to preview caller in a video conference session

ABSTRACT

The concept of caller identification (ID) may be enhanced by taking advantage of video by allowing a call recipient to see who is calling on an incoming video call. The call recipient may be allowed to make a decision to accept or decline the incoming video call based upon who the call recipient sees (e.g. through a live video stream) attempting to contact them.

BACKGROUND

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an IETF-defined signaling protocolwidely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice andvideo calls over Internet Protocol (IP). SIP can be used for creating,modifying, and terminating two-party (unicast) or multiparty (multicast)sessions. Sessions may consist of one or several media streams. OtherSIP applications include video conferencing, streaming multimediadistribution, instant messaging, presence information, file transfer,and online games. SIP protocol is an Application Layer protocol designedto be independent of the underlying Transport Layer; it can run onTransmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), orStream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP). SIP is a text-basedprotocol, incorporating many elements of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows an operating environment;

FIG. 2 is a state diagram illustrating caller preview;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for previewing a caller; and

FIG. 4 shows a computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

The concept of caller identification (ID) may be enhanced by takingadvantage of video by allowing a call recipient to see who is calling(e.g. a caller) on an incoming video call. The call recipient may beallowed to make a decision to accept or decline the incoming video callbased upon who the call recipient sees (e.g. through a live videostream) attempting to contact them.

Both the foregoing overview and the following example embodiment areexamples and explanatory only, and should not be considered to restrictthe disclosure's scope, as described and claimed. Further, featuresand/or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein.For example, embodiments of the disclosure may be directed to variousfeature combinations and sub-combinations described in the exampleembodiment.

Example Embodiments

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawingsand the following description to refer to the same or similar elements.While embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications,adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example,substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elementsillustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may bemodified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosedmethods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limitthe disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is definedby the appended claims.

As the adoption of video communications continues to expand through theadoption of personal communicator products, uses of inter-personal videocommunications technology may eventually exceed that of traditionalvoice call communications. Embodiments of the disclosure may enhance theconcept of caller ID by taking advantage of video, allowing a callrecipient to see (e.g. through a live video stream) who is calling them.Embodiments of the disclosure may allow the call recipient to make adecision to accept or decline incoming video calls based upon whom theysee attempting to contact them.

Caller ID was created to identify an incoming caller of a telephone callthat fits within the capabilities of a conventional voice call service.Caller ID allows recipients to determine if they want to answer a call,thus avoiding “wrong number” calls, telemarketing services, and evenprank calls. Caller ID helps to reduce the number of calls a recipientaccepts. But, as the adoption of video communications grows, caller IDmay not provide enough “pre-information” as to who is calling and maynot leverage the power of video communications.

Currently, telemarketers can mask their identity with fake information,an idea that may carry forward as more and more consumers adopt videocommunications over traditional voice communications. Today, a callrecipient might allow only a select few to “video chat”, through the useof buddy lists, but there may become a day when video communications maybe utilized much like a call recipient uses a telephone today.

Embodiment of the disclosure may establish video client pre-screeningfunctionality for video communications services. Just as a person maylook through the peephole of their front door to see who is at theirdoor, this disclosure may allow a call recipient to establish a one wayreal-time transport protocol (RTP) media session to see who is callingbefore the call recipient accept an incoming video call. Furthermore, anadded sense of trust and security may be provided for users who arehesitant to adopt video communications giving the user additionalvisibility into who is really calling them. Moreover, the concept ofcaller ID, or the use of a static image that represents a caller may beenhanced when the caller's call is received by another user.

Because video communications may be adopted into nearly all forms ofcommunication in the future, embodiments of the disclosure may besoftware or hardware integrated into consumer, enterprise, and serviceprovider products. Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure mayenhance video conferencing, telepresence, or a remote experttelepresence service, allowing a call center agent to see who is callingahead of answering the session. In this way, prank calls, and otherinappropriate calls may be reduced or eliminated.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operating environment 100. As shown inFIG. 1, operating environment 100 may include a network 105, a proxyserver 110, a redirect server 115, a first user device 120, a seconduser device 125, and a third user device 130. Proxy server 110 andredirect server 115 may provide SIP communication sessions such as voiceand video calls over IP between first user device 120, second userdevice 125, and third user device 130 over network 105.

Network 105 may comprise any type of network (e.g. the Internet, acontent delivery network (CDN), etc.) capable of facilitating SIPcommunication sessions such as voice and/or video calls over InternetProtocol (IP). Moreover, network 105 may facilitate other SIPapplications include, but not limited to, video conferencing, streamingmultimedia distribution, instant messaging, presence information, filetransfer, and online games.

Proxy server 110 may comprise an intermediary entity that acts as both auser agent server (UAS) and a user agent client (UAC) for the purpose ofmaking requests on behalf of other clients. Proxy server 110 mayprimarily play the role of routing, which means its job may be to ensurethat a request is sent to another entity “closer” to the targeted user.Proxy server 110 may also be used to enforce policy (for example, makingsure a user is allowed to make a call). Moreover, proxy server 110 mayalso interpret, and, if necessary, rewrite specific parts of a requestmessage before forwarding it. Proxy server 110 may also serve as aregistrar that may accept REGISTER requests and place the information itreceives in those requests into the location service for the domain ithandles which registers one or more IP addresses to a certain SIPuniform resource locator (URL), indicated by the sip: scheme.

Redirect server 115 may comprise a user agent server that generates 3xx(Redirection) responses to requests it receives, directing the client tocontact an alternate set of URIs. Redirect server 115 may allow proxyservers to direct SIP session invitations to external domains.

First user device 120, second user device 125, or third user device 130may comprise any type of device (e.g. a SIP user agent (UA)) capable ofperforming SIP communication sessions such as voice and video calls overIP. For example, first user device 120 may comprise a SIP phone, a smartphone, second user device 125 may comprise a tablet computer, and thirduser device 130 may comprise any type of computing device. First userdevice 120, second user device 125, or third user device 130 maycomprise, but are not limited to, a Wi-Fi access point, a cellular basestation, a switch servicing multiple clients in a vicinity, a tabletdevice, a mobile device, a smart phone, a telephone, a remote controldevice, a set-top box, a digital video recorder, a cable modem, apersonal computer, a network computer, a mainframe, a router, or othersimilar microcomputer-based device.

A SIP UA may comprise a logical network endpoint used to create orreceive SIP messages and manage a SIP session. A SIP UA may perform therole of a user agent client (UAC), which sends SIP requests, and a useragent server (UAS), which receives requests and returns a SIP response.These roles of UAC and UAS may only last for the duration of a SIPtransaction. The SIP UA may comprise a physical device such as atelepresence device, or a video conferencing software application thatis installed on a personal computer, tablet, or smart phone.

A SIP phone may comprise a SIP user agent that may provide thetraditional call functions of a telephone, such as dial, answer, reject,hold/unhold, and call transfer. SIP phones may be implemented as ahardware device or as a softphone. SIP elements may be implemented inthe basic firmware functions of many IP-capable devices.

Consistent with embodiments of the disclosure, the call screeningfunctionality may be provided by and between first user device 120 andsecond user device 125 through, for example, a conventional IPconnection between first user device 120 and second user device 125. Inother words, embodiments of the disclosure may require no modificationsor additions to conventional SIP.

FIG. 2 is a state diagram illustrating a call preview. A caller userdevice (e.g. second user device 125 at endpoint 1) may place a videocall to a recipient user device (e.g. first user device 120 at endpoint2). This call may be established through states 205 through 225 showingstandard SIP codes to establish a 2-way RTP media stream (state 230.)After the 2-way RTP media stream is establish, but before a full 2-wayvideo call is established, the recipient user device may require apreview (state 235.) If the caller user device allows the preview, a1-way RTP stream (state 240) may stream video from the caller userdevice to the recipient user device. If the recipient user deviceapproves (state 245) of the incoming call, the recipient user device mayenable a camera on the recipient user device to send video to the calleruser device. The video session may then utilize a full 2-way video call(state 250). This call may be terminated through states 255 through 260showing standard SIP codes.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart setting forth the general stages involved in amethod 300 consistent with an embodiment of the disclosure forpreviewing a caller. Method 300 may be implemented using first userdevice 120 (e.g. recipient user device) that may utilize a computingdevice 400 as described in more detail below with respect to FIG. 4.Caller user device may be embodied in second user device 125. Ways toimplement the stages of method 300 will be described in greater detailbelow.

Method 300 may begin at starting block 305 and proceed to stage 310where first user device 120 may receive a call. For example, second userdevice 125 may place the call (i.e. a video call) to first user device120 over network 105.

From stage 310, where first user device 120 receives the call, method300 may advance to stage 315 where first user device 120 may present, inresponse to the received call, the following call recipient firstoptions: “accept”, “decline”, and “preview”. For example, a menu may bedisplayed on first user device 120 to the call recipient, listing thecall recipient first options. If “accept” or “decline” is selected bythe call recipient from the menu, a normal two-way video call may beestablished between first user device 120 and second user device 125 orthe call may be completely ended respectively.

Once first user device 120 presents the call recipient first options instage 315, method 300 may continue to stage 320 where first user device120 may receive a selection of the “preview” call recipient firstoption. For example, the call recipient using first user device 120 mayselect “preview” from the menu displayed on first user device 120listing the call recipient first options.

After first user device 120 receives the selection of the “preview” callrecipient first option in stage 320, method 300 may proceed to stage 325where first user device 120 may establish, in response to receiving the“preview” call recipient first option, a two way media session for thecall. For example, when “preview” is selected from the menu on firstuser device 120, first user device 120 may accept the SIP request forvideo communication, establishing a two way RTP media session.

From stage 325, where first user device 120 establishes the two waymedia session, method 300 may advance to stage 330 where first userdevice 120 may disable, in response to receiving the preview callrecipient first option, first user device 120's ability to send videocorresponding to the call. For example, even though the two way mediasession has been established for the call between first user device 120and second user device 125, neither side of the call may see or hear oneanother. Specifically, first user device 120 may disable a video cameraon first user device 120 thus disabling first user device 120's abilityto send video (e.g. to second user device 125.)

Once first user device 120 disables first user device 120's ability tosend video corresponding to the call in stage 330, method 300 maycontinue to stage 335 where first user device 120 may signal, inresponse to receiving the “preview” call recipient first option, tosecond user device 125 (i.e. caller user device) to present thefollowing caller options: “allow” and “decline.” For example,functionality within first user device 120 may establish a data sessionwith second user device 125 signaling second user device 125 to presentthe caller with two options: i) “allow” to allow for a one way RTP mediasession, allowing the call recipient to see who is calling; or ii)“decline”—to decline the request to see who is calling, thus terminatingthe call.

After first user device 120 signals to second user device 125 to presentthe caller options in stage 335, method 300 may proceed to stage 340where first user device 120 may receive, at first user device 120, videocorresponding to the call in response to the “allow” caller option beingselected. For example, if the caller accepts the request for a videopreview, an apparatus instilled within second user device 125 may thenstream video from its camera for the call recipient to see via the RTPmedia session. The caller may have the option to terminate the one waypreview RTP media session at any time.

From stage 340, where first user device 120 receives video correspondingto the call, method 300 may advance to stage 345 where first user device120 may display, at first user device 120, the received videocorresponding to the call in response to the “allow” caller option beingselected. For example, the caller's face (e.g. through a live videostream) may be displayed on first user device 120. This may allow thecall recipient to see who is calling on the incoming video call.Consequently, embodiment of the disclosure may establish video clientpre-screening functionality for video communications services. Just as aperson may look through a peephole of their front door to see who is attheir door, this disclosure may allow the call recipient to establish aone way real-time transport protocol (RTP) media session to see who iscalling before the call recipient accepts the incoming video call.Furthermore, an added sense of trust and security may be provided forusers who are hesitant to adopt video communications giving the useradditional visibility into who is really calling them.

Once first user device 120 displays the received video in stage 345,method 300 may continue to stage 350 where first user device 120 maypresent, in response to the “allow” caller option being selected, thefollowing call recipient second options: “accept” and “terminate.” Forexample, during the call recipient's preview screening, first userdevice 120 may present the call recipient with two menu options—to“accept” or “terminate” the incoming video call. Consequently, the callrecipient may be allowed to make a decision to accept or decline theincoming video call based upon who the call recipient sees attempting tocontact them.

From stage 350, where first user device 120 presents the call recipientsecond options, method 300 may advance to stage 355 where first userdevice 120 may enable, in response to receiving the “accept” callrecipient second option, first user device 120's ability to send videocorresponding to the call. For example, if the call recipient approvesof the incoming call and selects the “accept” menu option, first userdevice 120 may enable the camera on first user device 120. The videosession then fully utilizes the two way RTP media session. Consequently,a two way video call is completely established between the caller andthe call recipient. If the call recipient disapproves of the videosession while viewing the preview video and selects the “terminate” menuoption, then the call is terminated. Once first user device 120 enablesfirst user device 120's ability to send video corresponding to the callin stage 355, method 300 may then end at stage 360.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be utilized, for example, in a videoconference situation or in a “remote expert” solution, allowing a callcenter agent to see who is calling ahead of answering a video conferenceor telepresence session. Because remote expert kiosks may commonly existin public places, the call center agent can confirm that there issomeone actually at the calling kiosk ahead of answering andestablishing a two-way session. In the event that the call session wasrequested as a “prank” by someone passing by the kiosk or if there issomeone calling who is “indecent”, the call center agent may decline theincoming call request. In the use of the remote expert, the caller maynot be prompted for approval of the call “preview”, but the call centeragent receiving the call within the call center may see who is callingat the time they receive the call request and determine if the callshould be answered.

FIG. 4 shows computing device 400 in more detail. As shown in FIG. 4,computing device 400 may include a processing unit 410 and a memory unit415. Memory unit 415 may include a software module 420 and a database425. While executing on processing unit 410, software module 420 mayperform processes for previewing a caller, including for example, anyone or more of the stages from method 300 described above with respectto FIG. 3. Computing device 400, for example, may provide an operatingenvironment for proxy server 110, redirect server 115, first user device120, second user device 125, or third user device 130. Proxy server 110,redirect server 115, first user device 120, second user device 125, orthird user device 130 may operate in other environments and are notlimited to computing device 400.

An embodiment consistent with the disclosure may comprise a system forpreviewing a caller. The system may comprise a memory storage and aprocessing unit coupled to the memory storage. The processing unit maybe operative to receive a call at a recipient user device and present,in response to the received call, the following call recipient firstoptions: accept, decline, and preview. Moreover, the processing unit maybe operative to receive a selection of the preview call recipient firstoption and, in response to receiving the preview call recipient firstoption: i) establish a two way media session for the call; ii) disablethe recipient user device's ability to send video corresponding to thecall; and iii) signal to a caller user device to present the followingcaller options: allow and decline. Furthermore, in response to the allowcaller option being selected, the processing unit may be operative to:i) receive, at the recipient user device, video corresponding to thecall; ii) display, at the recipient user device, the received videocorresponding to the call; and iii) present the following call recipientsecond options: accept and terminate. The processing unit may also beoperative to enable, in response to receiving the accept call recipientsecond option, the recipient user device's ability to send videocorresponding to the call.

Another embodiment consistent with the disclosure may comprise a systemfor previewing a caller. The system may comprise a memory storage and aprocessing unit coupled to the memory storage. The processing unit maybe operative to initiate a call and then receive a preview requestcorresponding to the initiated call. Next, the processing unit may allowthe preview request and participate in a two-way call in response toacceptance of the call resulting from the allowed preview.

Computing device 400 (“the processor”) may be implemented using a Wi-Fiaccess point, a cellular base station, a tablet device, a mobile device,a smart phone, a telephone, a remote control device, a set-top box, adigital video recorder, a cable modem, a personal computer, a networkcomputer, a mainframe, a router, or other similar microcomputer-baseddevice. The processor may comprise any computer operating environment,such as hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-basedor programmable sender electronic devices, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, and the like. The processor may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices. Furthermore, the processor may comprise, forexample, a mobile terminal, such as a smart phone, a cellular telephone,a cellular telephone utilizing Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) orunlicensed mobile access (UMA), personal digital assistant (PDA),intelligent pager, portable computer, a hand held computer, aconventional telephone, or a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) access point. Theaforementioned systems and devices are examples and the processor maycomprise other systems or devices.

Embodiments of the disclosure, for example, may be implemented as acomputer process (method), a computing system, or as an article ofmanufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readablemedia. The computer program product may be a computer storage mediareadable by a computer system and encoding a computer program ofinstructions for executing a computer process. The computer programproduct may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by acomputing system and encoding a computer program of instructions forexecuting a computer process. Accordingly, the present disclosure may beembodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc.). In other words, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-usable or computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the mediumfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. Acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific computer-readable medium examples (anon-exhaustive list), the computer-readable medium may include thefollowing: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable mediumcould even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program isprinted, as the program can be electronically captured, via, forinstance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled,interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary,and then stored in a computer memory.

Embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, are described abovewith reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations ofmethods, systems, and computer program products according to embodimentsof the disclosure. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur outof the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality/acts involved.

While certain embodiments of the disclosure have been described, otherembodiments may exist. Furthermore, although embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been described as being associated with data stored inmemory and other storage mediums, data can also be stored on or readfrom other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storagedevices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM, a carrier wave fromthe Internet, or other forms of RAM or ROM. Moreover, the semantic dataconsistent with embodiments of the disclosure may be analyzed withoutbeing stored. In this case, in-line data mining techniques may be usedas data traffic passes through, for example, a caching server or networkrouter. Further, the disclosed methods' stages may be modified in anymanner, including by reordering stages and/or inserting or deletingstages, without departing from the disclosure.

While the specification includes examples, the disclosure's scope isindicated by the following claims. Furthermore, while the specificationhas been described in language specific to structural features and/ormethodological acts, the claims are not limited to the features or actsdescribed above. Rather, the specific features and acts described aboveare disclosed as example for embodiments of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a call at arecipient user device comprising a session initiation protocol (SIP)enabled telephone; presenting, in response to the received call, callrecipient first options; receiving a selection of a preview callrecipient first option; and in response to receiving the preview callrecipient first option, establishing a two way media session for thecall, disabling the recipient user device's ability to send videocorresponding to the call, and signaling to a caller user device topresent the following caller options: allow and decline.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein presenting the call recipient first optionscomprising presenting the following call recipient first options:accept, decline, and preview.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinpresenting the call recipient first options comprises presenting thecall recipient first options on a display on the recipient user device.4. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing the two way media sessionfor the call comprises accepting a session initiation protocol (SIP)request for video communication.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinestablishing the two way media session for the call comprisesestablishing a two way real-time transport protocol (RTP) media session.6. The method of claim 1, wherein disabling the recipient user device'sability to send video corresponding to the call comprises disabling acamera on the recipient user device.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinsignaling to the caller user device comprises signaling to the calleruser device comprising a session initiation protocol (SIP) enabledtelephone.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein signaling to the calleruser device comprises signaling to the caller user device comprising aremote expert kiosk.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, inresponse to the allow caller option being selected, receiving, at therecipient user device, video corresponding to the call, displaying, atthe recipient user device, the received video corresponding to the call,and presenting the following call recipient second options: accept andterminate; and enabling, in response to receiving the accept callrecipient second option, the recipient user device's ability to sendvideo corresponding to the call.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereinenabling the recipient user device's ability to send video correspondingto the call comprises enabling a camera on the recipient user device.11. A method comprising: initiating a call from a caller user device;receiving a preview request corresponding to the initiated call;allowing the preview request; and participating in a two-way call inresponse to acceptance of the call resulting from the allowed previewwherein participating in the two-way call in response to acceptance ofthe call resulting from the allowed preview comprises establishing a twoway media session for the call comprising establishing a two wayreal-time transport protocol (RTP) media session.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein initiating the call from the caller user devicecomprises initiating the call from the caller user device comprising aremote expert kiosk.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein initiating thecall from the caller user device comprises initiating the call from thecaller user device comprising a session initiation protocol (SIP)enabled telephone.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving thepreview request comprises receiving the preview request from a recipientuser device.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the previewrequest comprises receiving the preview request in response to aselection of a preview call recipient first option on a recipient userdevice.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the previewrequest comprises receiving the preview request from a recipient userdevice comprising a session initiation protocol (SIP) enabled telephone.17. The method of claim 11, wherein allowing the preview requestcomprises enabling the caller user device's ability to send video. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein enabling the caller user device'sability to send video comprises enabling a camera on the caller userdevice.
 19. An apparatus comprising: a memory storage; and a processingunit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit isoperative to: receive a call; present, in response to the received call,a preview call recipient first option; receive a selection of thepreview call recipient first option; in response to receiving thepreview call recipient first option, establish a two way media sessionfor the call, disable the apparatus' ability to send video correspondingto the call, and signal to a caller user device to present an allowcaller option wherein the caller user device comprises a remote expertkiosk.
 20. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the apparatus comprises asession initiation protocol (SIP) enabled telephone.
 21. The apparatusof claim 19, wherein the processing unit being operative to present thepreview call recipient first option comprises the processing unit beingoperative to present the preview call recipient first option on adisplay associated with the apparatus.
 22. The apparatus of claim 19,wherein the processing unit being operative to establish the two waymedia session for the call comprises the processing unit being operativeto accept a session initiation protocol (SIP) request for videocommunication.
 23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processingunit being operative to establish the two way media session for the callcomprises the processing unit being operative to establish a two wayreal-time transport protocol (RTP) media session.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 18, wherein the processing unit being operative to disable theapparatus' ability to send video corresponding to the call comprises theprocessing unit being operative to disable a camera on the apparatus.25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the caller user device comprisesa session initiation protocol (SIP) enabled telephone.
 26. The apparatusof claim 19, wherein the processing unit is further operative to, inresponse to the allow caller option being selected, receive videocorresponding to the call, display the received video corresponding tothe call, and present an accept call recipient second option; andenable, in response to receiving the accept call recipient secondoption, the apparatus's ability to send video corresponding to the call.27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the processing unit beingoperative to enable the apparatus' ability to send video correspondingto the call comprises the processing unit being operative to enable acamera on the apparatus.